Quick and Easy West African Dishes – Liberian Jollof Rice Recipe

As many of you know (and as evidenced by my Big Fat African Family), my family hails from Liberia, West Africa. What people don’t realize is that it didn’t matter where we lived growing up, my family did everything the “African” way. So imagine PTA meetings where all the other moms are wearing simple plaid skirts and in walks my mom draped from head to toe in colorful African garb. I mean head to toe. From an elaborate head wrap to embroidered golden shoes! Needless to say, that took some time for me to appreciate!

What I always appreciated though was the smell of sweet food always cooking in my kitchen. Yes, ALWAYS! My mom was quite traditional when it came to the cooking. She worked, but still somehow managed to have a fresh meal every day for our family. This says a lot when you’re talking about African food though because a typical meal could take hours to cook. A weekend stew would start brewing in the morning hours and be ready just at dinner time! As much as I’d love to prepare more West African dishes for my family, I just don’t have it in me to spend my entire day in the kitchen! Who does anymore right? This is why it’s important to me to find tasty West African recipes for my family that won’t take all day to prepare.

I had a chance to attend a sponsored Minute® Rice Live Party about a week ago and sampled some really unique and tasty dishes made with Minute® Rice products! We tried a breakfast skillet (made with Minute ® Multi-Grain Medley rice, eggs, cheese and herbs) which at first seemed like the strangest combination, but was so tasty I’m still thinking about it! We also tried Greek salad with rice cakes, beef and chicken stir-fry, and…wait for it…an apple rice tart for dessert!  Yum-my!   Anyway, until then, I’d never imagined you could make so many yummy creations with Minute® Rice before then and it got me thinking – how can I use Minute® Rice to create quick and easy West African dishes or sides for my family?

One important thing to note is the fact that the main ingredient to most West African meals happens to be rice! I’ve only recently learned that rice is considered a side dish in American culture, but in fact, almost every West African meal is described as “rice and {insert stew here}”. Rice is served even when there’s already another carb in the meal such as potatoes or yams. Carbs or not, there are few things we love more than rice!

One of my family’s favorite West African dishes is called Jollof Rice. It’s also the official potluck request of many of my non-African friends. Of all West African dishes, it’s one of those meals that work for everyone’s palate, since it’s not overly exotic and it incorporates some pretty standard ingredients – meats, veggies, rice, etc. It’s also a “one pot” meal, so the clean-up is a lot simpler.

There are many variations of this recipe you’ll find so feel free to substitute ingredients according to your taste. For example, some recipes call for you to fry the meats rather than boil them, but this is just a healthier option I prefer to use. Here’s the recipe I tried tonight:

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Quick and Easy West African Jollof Rice

*Recipe sponsored by Minute® Rice

Author: Ari - Love, Peace, and Tiny Feet

Ingredients

• 1 box of Gluten Free Minute® White Rice*
• 1-2 lbs of meat I used chicken, beef, and shrimp tonight, but any variation will work
• 1 onion
• Tomato paste
• Frozen mixed vegetables
• Seasonings for meats chicken bullion cubes

Instructions

1. Season your meats with your choice of seasoning mix. I use seasoned salt, onion powder, and garlic powder 

2. Add meats, onions, bullion cubes and water to a large pot and bring to a boil. The water is the base of the sauce, so it should be just enough to cook the meats but not too much. It should be a little "over-seasoned" too, as it will also be used to season the rice later.
3. Add tomato paste for coloring. I typically use about 2-3 tablespoons, but the point is for the paste to give the sauce a reddish color.
4. Once meats are all fully cooked through and water has been reduced, add 1 pack of frozen mixed vegetables and 1 box of Minute® Rice. The sauce should be just enough to cover and cook the rice.
5. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until rice is soft and vegetables are cooked through.
6. Remove from heat, allow rice and flavors to "set," serve and enjoy!

* Note: The Minute® Rice family of products includes Minute® White Rice, Minute® Whole Grain Brown Rice, Minute ® Multi-Grain Medley and a variety of Minute® Ready to Serve Rice products.   You might also try this recipe with Minute 100% Whole Grain Brown Rice as a delicious, nutritious option, as it has similar nutritional values as regular long cooking brown rice (except it’s ready in ¼ the time!!) Both Minute Brown and White Rice are gluten free, too.

For more African inspired recipes, this cookbook by Marcus Samuelsson is an excellent resource to check out!

Also, Minute® Multi-Grain Medley is the newest product from Minute Rice. It’s a blend of four gluten-free, 100% whole grains, including long grain brown rice, Thai red rice, wild rice and quinoa and it conveniently cooks in 10 minutes. Plus, Minute® Multi-Grain Medley comes in pre-portioned bags, making it even easier to prep for your family.

There are so many tasty “out of the box” recipes you can try with Minute® Rice.  For even more recipe ideas and information about the Minute® Rice family of products., be sure to visit www.minuterice.com! You’ll find over 400 recipe ideas great for any day of the week and any time of the day – from breakfast to desserts! and for more

For recipe ideas, newsletters and special offers from Minute Rice sent straight to your inbox, join The Riceipe® Club by signing up HERE.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Minute® Rice.  As usual, all opinions are my own.